This invention relates to a guard for an outboard motor, more particularly to a guard for protecting the gear housing, fin and propeller of an outboard motor.
Outboard motors for propelling oars are often used in shallow water where water vegetation grows in profusion and where the motor is likely to hit the ground or submerged objects such as rocks, logs, etc. Guards are generally secured to an outboard motor forwardly of the propeller and are intended to reduce the possibility of damage to the propeller and adjacent parts of the motor due to striking of submerged obstacles and the possibility of weeds being drawn into and wrapped around the propeller or propeller shaft.
Various weed and propeller guards of this type are known. Several of these guards such as the guard disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,054,374 to Fuller are designed to merely protect the propeller and not the fin, even though the latter is more expensive to repair than the propeller. Other known guards are not sufficiently shock absorbing to effectively protect the fin, propeller and gear housing from impact. Propellers of this kind are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,140,099 to Wise; 2,355,842 to Arado; 2,319,640 to Sink and 3,025,825 to Martinson.